pyramid sets

anemoneprose

pros/cons? bad for the injury prone, even with extended rest?

i took a look at body for life, and i guess that's what the strength part of it is. goes like this: 2 exercises per muscle group, back to back. Each exercise is: 12 reps at say 50%, 1 min rest, 10, 1 min rest, 8, ... 6, then 2x12 (no rest), and 2 mins rest before the next exercises in that group.

I often had to do 2 mins rest between each set to get through, though, so it took ages. (I also decided glutes were a little neglected so added it in as a 'body part group'.)

I liked that I got through it, though - I've usually done full-body w/os to catch a break, didn't think I could make it through an upper/lower split.

there's 20 mins hiit in between upper & lower days as well.

i am modifying as much as poss and staying on the low side for weights for now.

is there a way to do something like this, if you're mid-30s w soft tissue probs & arthritis?

LongIsland27itl

I your goal to build muscle, get stronger, or lost weight?
Pyramids can be helpful to get stronger and fatigue the muscles well but if you have arthritis or whatever issues then its not a big deal to do pyramids. I haven't done them in years and don't wish to

anemoneprose

Thanks for replying!

I'd like to get stronger & get rid of some bf.

What confuses me is, by the time you're on your last set, your %max weight is much lower than if you were going to do something more typical (6-12 rep range). But, there's all that repetition. So I guess, I don't know if that would be good or bad for someone with my issues...

LongIsland27itl

I have a labral tear in my left shoulder, I try to get away from my workouts with putting as little stress on the shoulder girdle as possible.
If I were you I'd stick with a4-12 rep range using the progressive overload principal

anemoneprose

Fair enough! Sticking to basics makes sense. I keep getting sucked into fancy things!

LongIsland27itl

Haha, I did the same thing until I really hurt myself , now I have to be conscious of my shoulder every exercise I do

anemoneprose

Yeah, that's not fun at all. Annoying to have to think in terms of limitations

danimalkeys

Thanks for replying!

I'd like to get stronger & get rid of some bf.

What confuses me is, by the time you're on your last set, your %max weight is much lower than if you were going to do something more typical (6-12 rep range). But, there's all that repetition. So I guess, I don't know if that would be good or bad for someone with my issues...

The last 2 sets of 12 are more like a burn out set to fatigue the muscle. Those sets will seem really heavy with the other reps and relatively short rest periods between sets.

On a different note, I sometimes used to do a reverse pyramid type of burnout set. I'd load up a bunch of 10's on each side of the bar. Do a set, as many reps as you can. Strip off a 10 on each side, do another set of as many reps as you can. Strip off a 10 on each side, continue til you have the bare bar. The bar feels like it weighs 500lbs by the time you are done. Fun stuff, though I'm not sure how productive it is aside from conditioning.

anemoneprose

Thanks for replying!

I'd like to get stronger & get rid of some bf.

What confuses me is, by the time you're on your last set, your %max weight is much lower than if you were going to do something more typical (6-12 rep range). But, there's all that repetition. So I guess, I don't know if that would be good or bad for someone with my issues...

The last 2 sets of 12 are more like a burn out set to fatigue the muscle. Those sets will seem really heavy with the other reps and relatively short rest periods between sets.

Aha - so, the idea is, just burn the eff out of the muscles, got it. Well, just 1 day after my attempt, I am already having hints of vicious DOMS on the way tomorrow.

So how is this supposed to support an aging 'body for life'?

On a different note, I sometimes used to do a reverse pyramid type of burnout set. I'd load up a bunch of 10's on each side of the bar. Do a set, as many reps as you can. Strip off a 10 on each side, do another set of as many reps as you can. Strip off a 10 on each side, continue til you have the bare bar. The bar feels like it weighs 500lbs by the time you are done. Fun stuff, though I'm not sure how productive it is aside from conditioning.

I can imagine this kind of shenanigans being really satisfying!